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Politics & Gun Rights: A Constant Debate Point

Gun
control is, without a doubt, one of the most controversial topics. And it has
been for many years now. In essence, the root of this ongoing debate is based
on a specific sentence present in the Second Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution. We could argue that this specification in the U.S. Constitution
has been a major cause of division, not only in the American society but also in regard to politics.

Basically,
the debate regarding gun rights has been ongoing since the 1960s. Around that
time, the issue of gun rights has emerged as an essential
political issue. From that point onward, things have notably escalated, in the
sense that public demonstrations have taken place, as well as Congressional
standouts, and the list may go on.

According
to the Second Amendment, a well-regulated Militia is the key to a free state. This grants the people
the freedom to carry arms. Of course, this line has been interpreted in several
ways. There are two major categories, so to speak – the category of people that
consider a regulation of firearms to be necessary, and the category of people
that assume this would be an infringement of their personal liberties.

How Old Is the Issue of Gun Control?

We
could say that the matter of gun control is as old as the United States itself.
Basically, immediately after the republic was established, black people weren’t allowed to carry guns. The same applied
to Native Americans that weren’t willing to pledge loyalty to the republic.
According to a 1792 law, all white men in the country were required to possess
a gun and enroll in the citizen militia. It’s also worth pointing out that
those guns were registered under state laws, as well.

Until
the late 1800s, the prohibition against black people wearing guns continued. At
the same time, new civil rights laws were introduced. Nevertheless, the very
first modern gun-control laws were actually passed in the 1930s. That happened
in the context of the Prohibition-era. The goal of these laws was to regulate
the access of the gangsters to guns.

Furthermore,
the next wave of new civil rights
laws passed in the late 1960s. It’s also worth analyzing the context. Around
that time, the president – John F. Kennedy – was assassinated, and so was
Martin Luther King Jr. Numerous black radicals supported the rights of the
African-Americans to possess and carry arms. As a result, the sale and
distribution of firearms was prohibited.
What is more, gun dealers and manufacturers were required to have a license, as
well as monitor their sales.

In
this direction, all these elements contributed to the rise of the National
Rifle Association, which emerged as a political force. Obviously, the Second
Amendment lied at its core. Due to the intense lobbying of gun advocates, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 contributed
to lifting some of the previous restrictions. According to the 1986 Law,
dealers had the possibility of selling rifles and shotguns through the mail.
Concurrently, the sale of machine guns manufactured after the 19th
of May 1986 was restricted.

What Are the Laws regarding Gun Control?

There
are specific states that have enacted a given type of ban on assault weapons.
On the other hand, there are states in which the laws regarding gun control
aren’t that restrictive. The question that naturally rises is: could crime and violence be directly connected with a
given law or not? Considering the limited scope and loopholes in most research
studies, experts outline that this is difficult to confirm.

For
instance, according to the Gun Control Act of 1968, the sale of firearms was
prohibited to specific categories of individuals – such as people with criminal
records, people aged under 18 years old, unlawful aliens, mentally disabled
individuals, dishonorably discharged military personnel, and so on.

On a
different note, in lines with the federal Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1990, as
well as similar state laws, these were meant to maximize the safety of children
at school, preventing gun violence.
Nonetheless, unfortunately, schools have become soft targets in this direction, as one
can clearly notice from the significant number of gun violence incidents.

There Are Two Sides of the Argument

Evidently,
each category of advocates has its range of arguments. Gun-regulation advocates
say that by including stricter laws concerning gun ownership, the issue of
violence could be notably diminished. On the other hand, gun advocates claim
that gun ownership is the key to personal safety and preventing them from
owning a gun is a violation of civil rights.

Furthermore,
political parties have opposing opinions concerning the issue of gun ownership,
as well. The ongoing debates concerning the possible root of violence in the
United States has been, to some extent, linked with the right of bearing arms,
as outlined by firearm regulation supporters. At the same time, according to
firearm regulation supporters, unrestricted gun rights prevent the government from
responsibly handling any safety issues.

On
the other hand, there is the category of
gun rights supporters. People in this category think that gun ownership is a
fundamental civil right. That’s because it actually aims at maximizing the
safety of the individual – for example, for the subtle type of
gun rights supporter, there are several guns to choose from. To that end,
owning a gun facilitates the means of self-defense, contributing to safer
communities. On a different note, gun rights supporters indicate that criminals
usually have access to guns, regardless of what the laws in that state are.

Final Thoughts

There
is no doubt that gun ownership remains a controversial topic till this very day
because it talks about a significant issue: individual and national safety. In
addition, due to the loopholes that exist in the many conducted studies, one
cannot be 100 percent certain that the worrying crime levels are caused by one of the most controversial
sentences in the Constitution – namely the Second Amendment.